Monday, March 14, 2011

In a recent interview with WCNC, Charlotte's NBC affiliate, to promote the new season of Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump did what he does best. He took the opportunity to plug a potential business venture. "By the way, I’m looking at some property in Charlotte," The Donald said. "I like Charlotte a lot. It’s a great place and I’m actually looking to buy some specific property in Charlotte."

I wonder if this specific property is the same one he was interested in about three years ago before the recession hit and several of Uptown Charlotte's planned condo towers got placed on the back burner or scrapped altogether. (Though a couple of projects like The Vue forged ahead.)

Back in 2008, the idea of Trump Charlotte had the city buzzing. Could it be reborn?

In fact, the website for Trump Charlotte is still up at TrumpCharlotte.com. It showcases the original plans for two side-by-side towers in Uptown. One tower has floor plans to include residential units and a hotel. The other is an office tower with a couple of floors of retail space. There hadn't been any news on this project in a long time--and it's not easy to tell when the website was last updated--so it was natural to assume that Trump Charlotte wasn't going to happen. But the real estate mogul's got us speculating again, and it could be an entirely different project if it happens.

Trump's quasi-announcement comes on the heels of last week's announcement that work on The Park condo in Uptown is resuming and will be completed by August 2012. After work stalled two years ago when the original builder filed for bankruptcy, leaving a shell of a building that's become an eyesore, a new developer is turning it into an exciting high-rise with condo units, a hotel, and rooftop restaurant. If real estate projects are coming back online, Charlotte could be getting her swagger back.